AHIMA: AMA Stance on ICD-10 Should Not Slow Down Work

With the American Medical Association ramping up its fight against the ICD-10 code sets by asking House Speaker John Boehner for assistance in stopping mandated implementation, the American Health Information Management Association is warning against slowing down compliance work.

“If health care providers stop their ICD-10 planning and implementation now and wait to see if Congress will take action, they will not be ready in time for the compliance date,” Dan Rode, AHIMA vice president for advocacy and policy, says in a statement.

Stopping implementation work would result in severe financial losses for stakeholders who have been investing in ICD-10 compliance, Rode contends. He reminds stakeholders that physicians are not required to use the ICD-10-PCS procedure and treatment codes, but will continue using AMA’s CPT classification system. “The concern that physicians must use all the codes in the ICD-10-CM system is inaccurate,” he adds. “Like we use dictionaries to find specific words, practitioners use those codes that best fit their practice.”

To ease ICD-10 transition for providers who want to limit investment in automated systems, coders also can assemble a “super bill” in less than a day for small practices, Rode says. More information is at ahima.org/icd10.